


Two Words

by tres_mechante



Category: MASH (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Love Over 40, M/M, Partner Betrayal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-29
Updated: 2011-05-29
Packaged: 2017-10-19 21:11:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/205255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tres_mechante/pseuds/tres_mechante
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two words are all it takes to change a life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Words

**Author's Note:**

> A story told in four vignettes from four different points of view spanning many years.
> 
> Written for Older Not Dead, **prompt** M*A*S*H. Hawkeye/BJ. Dad died.

**[BJ]**

BJ didn't like the crowds at these medical conferences but he did appreciate the chance to catch up with old friends. He nodded to a few acquaintances as he wandered around, eyes scanning the milling throng. Eventually he took himself off to the bar, taking a seat with a good view of the registration desk.

Every year without fail since returning from Korea, he's gone to these things. At first it was just to get a break from the stress of everyday life, maybe reconnect with doctors who hadn't served overseas, get a sense of what was normal in a practice. But 10 years ago, at the conference in Chicago, he found another, better reason to attend.

  
 _He spotted a familiar profile in the hotel's lounge and couldn't help grinning. "Hey, Hawk!"_

 _The man turned around and scanned the crowd. The moment their eyes met the other man started to laugh as he wove through the crowd. "Hey-hey Beej!" he crowed, enveloping BJ in a big hug. Hawkeye pulled back and looked around. "Is Peg here?"_

 _"No, she's home with Erin," he said, allowing himself to be pulled into the bar for a drink. "How've you been, Hawk?"_

 _They chatted until the noise got to be too much and adjourned to Hawkeye's room, where the remainder of the night was spent getting caught upon each other's lives. Eventually the alcohol and late hour took their toll and the two men fell asleep on the bed._

 _The morning sun found them wrapped around one another, sleepily gazing into each other's eyes._

 _"This is a very bad idea," said BJ._

 _"Probably," agreed Hawkeye, not moving. "What now?"_

 _BJ slowly leaned forward to press a chaste closed-mouth kiss on his friend's lips. He pulled back. "What now?"_

 _Hawkeye's smile was beautiful as he lifted a hand to BJ's neck and pulled him close for another soft kiss. "Now we get ready for the first session downstairs." He leaned up to press a hard kiss to BJ's forehead. "We think about this and talk later, okay?"_

 _"Hawk?"_

 _"Don't argue, okay? My willpower is not all that great right now, and I'm not used to being the one to think about consequences."_

 _Consequences. BJ's heart clenched. Peg. Erin. Oh god._

 _Hawkeye lightly patted his arm. "Hey. Nothing happened except a couple of buddies talking, getting drunk and falling asleep."_

 _"And if I want to remember something else happened…?"_

 _Hawkeye's shy smile was answer enough._

BJ scanned the crowds again and checked his watch impatiently. He and Hawkeye only saw each other once a year at these conferences and he didn't want to waste any of their limited time together. It wasn't just about sex – although that was part of it – it was more about being _together_.

Finally giving up, he decided to go up to his room and rest before the welcome reception. On a whim he stopped at the front desk.

"Excuse me. Do you have a message for Hunnicut, room 508?"

"508? Let me check." The clerk disappeared for a moment and returned with a folded slip of paper, which he handed over.

"Thank you," said BJ, moving to a quiet corner to read the message.

There were only two words: Dad died.

~~~~~ ~ ~~~~~

 **[Hawkeye]**

“Stop fidgeting with that, Benjamin, or you’ll have to do it all over again.” Hawkeye smiled at Miss Abigail and dutifully took his hand away from his tie. She’d run his father’s practice for almost 25 years and every so often extended that bossiness into the family as well. He had no idea how he'd have gotten through the last week without her.

He often suspected they'd had a more than professional relationship, but as both his father and Miss Abigail were both intensely private people he'd left it alone.

It didn't take long before Hawkeye started to fidget again. The last few weeks had been chaotic, from the moment his dad collapsed right through to the phone calls to relatives and making the arrangements. He felt like he'd never know another moment's peace again.

The trip to the cemetery didn't take long but the service seemed to go on forever. His dad wasn't one for churchgoing so the funeral was held graveside. He couldn't believe how many chairs had been set up, and even then people were standing as far as he could see. In all the years of practice, Old Doc Pierce had touched a lot of lives. But his awareness of all that was vague, distant; it was all he could do to remain focused on the moment, on the casket being lowered into the ground.

Hawkeye was pretty sure he'd been saying the right things as people he knew, and even more people he'd never met came up to offer their condolences. The day was fading by the time the crowd at the veteran's hall thinned out enough that he could find a quiet corner and simply breathe.

He startled briefly when a hand landed on his shoulder, but he quickly relaxed and leaned back against the hand's owner with a contented sigh. Hawkeye reached up and rested his own hand on that of his dearest friend. "You came."

~~~~~ ~ ~~~~~

 **[Peggy]**

Peggy's coffee was getting cold, but she hardly noticed. The cup was just something to hang on to, something to anchor her to the moment. She stared down at the business card her best friend Shirley had given her, staring at it like it might suddenly jump up and bite her.

Shirley's brother was a lawyer, a divorce lawyer. And his business card was sitting right there in front of her on her own kitchen table in what she's always thought would be her family's home forever.

Except it wasn't working out like she'd dreamed, like they'd talked about when he'd been in Korea and they'd been saving up to buy this little slice of heaven. Peggy hated Korea and anything to do with what went on over there. Korea had taken her husband away. His body came home, but he wasn't the same man who'd gone over there.

They'd learned to deal with the nightmares and reactions to certain noises. They made a lot of adjustments - _she'd_ made a lot of adjustments to build something that passed for a normal family, but it hadn't been enough.

BJ, the man she'd thought she knew, hadn't returned from the last medical conference. Instead he'd flown across the country to _him_ , to Hawkeye. He'd left the conference, he'd left everything – left her and Erin – to go to him.

Peggy wasn't a heartless woman. She understood what it meant to support a friend, but this was something... different. She's always suspected, _known_ , that there was something unnatural about their friendship, the way they always met up and shared a room at the medical conferences, the way BJ always found a reason for her not to go with him.

She was proud of the way she'd been calm when he'd called to tell her he was staying in Maine for a while because _he_ needed him. She said she understood, and she had, more than BJ probably realized.

Peggy picked up the card and studied it. Did she dare make the call? She could still hear the tears in her husband's voice the last time he's said, "I'm sorry."

~~~~~ ~ ~~~~~

 **[Erin]**

Erin was thrilled to finally be finished her internship. She was now a fully licensed physician just like her dad. Mom wasn't thrilled about her career choice, but she'd always known this was what she wanted to do.

"Are you sure you about this?" asked her husband Casey.

"Believe me, this is the opportunity of a lifetime and I'm not about to let it get away from me." She looked at him carefully. "Are you sure about this? I mean, it's not all that common for a man to give up his career to follow his wife around..."

Casey laughed and hugged her. "I'm not giving up anything. I've got you, and I've still got my teaching. I'm looking forward to starting at the college."

She hugged him tight. "Thank you. I mean it."

"Any time. Now get your cute little rear in gear and hurry or you'll miss your interview."

Erin felt a sudden surge of panic. "Oh god, what if I'm not hired? You'll have changed jobs for nothing! I should have accepted the position at the hospital and--"

"And you are going to be late if you keep dithering." He kissed her nose. "They'd be nuts not to hire you. Besides, it's not like there's an army of new doctors wanting to build a rural practice. Now go!"

Laughing, Erin blew a kiss to her husband as she rushed out the door. She'd definitely have to hurry if she wanted to be on time.

The clinic was almost exactly what she'd pictured when she was invited for the interview. It was, to be clichéd, charming. The door suddenly opened and an elderly woman stood there, watching her.

"You the new doctor everyone's talking about?"

"Uh, yes?"

"You don't sound so sure."

"Well, I haven't actually been hired yet," Erin said, amused by the woman's attitude.

The woman looked her over again and then smiled. "You'll do. Come on in. I'm the bookkeeper, Abigail Rosenbloom. Near everyone calls me Miss Abigail."

Erin continued up the steps and shook hands with her. "I'm Erin O'Connor."

The two women entered the reception area where another woman sat behind the desk. She was about Erin's age and was the very picture of a young Miss Abigail. "This is my daughter Rachel. She's the receptionist and office manager – keeps an eye on everyone. Rachel, this here's Doctor Erin O'Connor."

Rachel smiled. "Just have a seat. The partners are just finishing up with patients. Would you like a cup of coffee or a glass of water or something?"

"I'm fine," she said, busily looking around the room. It was a comfortable and comforting place to wait, nothing like the sterile settings in most city clinics.

A few minutes later a young woman and sniffling toddler left. A few minutes after that an elderly man left calling out a promise to be back the following week.

Erin braced herself, hoping she looked professional rather than nervous.

A tall man with very white hair came out, lab coat flapping around his thin frame. He smiled at her and said, "Doctor O'Connor I presume?"

She was instantly charmed. "As a matter of fact, I am. And you are...?"

"Relieved you're here." He raised his voice as he added "We could use the help since my partner is a lazy bum who refuses to work past one o'clock!"

"Probably because _my_ partner is a lazy bum who refuses to even start work before eleven o'clock."

She turned to see a tall white-haired man leaning on a cane as he walked through another door. He started to smile when he saw her, but the smile faltered. She watched the expression in his eyes as he looked at her, uncertainty, fear and hope warred for dominance in his expression as he studied her. Whatever he saw in her expression seemed to ease the fear and he smiled tentatively.

"I – not to sound like a corny pick-up line, but I have oddest feeling we've met..."

Erin felt tears gather in her eyes and she blinked them back as best she could. This was why she picked this posting, why she wanted this job. She gathered her courage and smiled wobbily at the man she'd almost given up hope of ever seeing again.

"Hi, Daddy."

 

\---end---


End file.
